Chapter Two

Dimitri was led into what appeared to be a bare bedroom and then into an opulent adjoining bathroom that was completely made of black and ivory marble design. 

He had to admit, he noticed nearly everything the entire journey towards the bathroom, and the immaculate things he saw were mind-boggling. 

And infuriating.

How could one family consisting of three people own so much? 

He was seething by the time he was placed on a chair in the bathroom. The servants seemed to sense his mood and avoided making eye contact with him as they swiftly pulled out two pairs of thin gold bracelets. They were placed around his bruised wrist and ankles, before the clunkier Prohibitors were removed.

It was the moment he’d waited for since the Prohibitors had been applied, but as soon as he moved his arms, they were immediately pulled together and clasped by the gold bracelets.

 Wide eyed, he stared at the gold bracelets in amazement for a moment until he heard the sound of high heels echo against empty marble floors in the distance. 

Someone was coming. 

~

Lady Hwang stepped off the elevator and continued down the corridors as she walked across the empty room that led to the bathroom. Her face appeared first as she peeked in, then she pushed the door open fully allowing herself entrance. 

She looked at the new gold bracelets smiling, then shifted her hazel eyes to his, “They are still Prohibitors,” she spoke, shutting the bathroom door behind her, “Just prettier ones.”

Dimitri wanted to snarl at the woman but refused to act like the animal they were treating him as. Instead, he glared as he was forced to stand and his wrist was placed against the counter. Once there, he noticed they were locked in place without a hook. The shock was evident on his face as he again tried to pull away from the counter to no avail. 

Those Prohibitors were unlike any he had ever seen before. 

The ones he traveled in didn't adhere to any surface without first being hooked on directly or locked in place. Even the original Handcuff model had to be locked with a key. 

Whatever Prohibitors he was wearing at that moment was more than just “prettier”.

The servants around him continued on with what they were doing, completely ignoring his minor struggle with the Prohibitors. One of them was running bath water in the marble tub colored the same way as the rest of the room, and another was cutting the only clothes he wore from his body. While a female servant laid various tools against the counter, some of which he recognized.

“I’ve come to oversee the handling of you, Dimitri, since I’m sure my precious niece won’t.”

Gracefully, Lady Hwang took a seat on the edge of the tub, crossing one long leg over the other. 

Dimitri could only watch her from the mirror since she was sitting behind him. 

When he noticed that she was looking at his bare body unabashedly, he had to fight the blush that was trying to creep to the surface of his skin. “You’re not as thin as you look in those rags you call clothes. Mmm...Quite close to the same size as my Lord husband actually, Oh-,” she delighted when the servants turned him around. 

She noticed he had broad shoulders, a strong chest and long toned legs, as he was led to the hot water, “My lovely niece might be grateful if she figures out what to do with all that. Especially-,” Her eyes, sparkling with mischief and a hint of lust, lingered on the area between his legs.

Dimitri quickly placed his clasped hands in front of his exposed crotch, bowing his head to avoid her salacious stare. A smile tickled her lips before laughter followed. The sound sent chills rippling across his skin. 

The servant leading him paused before the tub, directing him to lift one leg after the other into the bath.

The water was scalding when he stepped in but he was forced down into it anyway. The heat quickly engulfed him, sloshing uncomfortably around his sore body. 

As soon as he settled into the sweet-smelling water, his wrist parted  from each other before clamping one onto each side of the marble tub spreading his arms apart. He didn’t know how these fancy Prohibitors worked, but he already hated them more than the original ones that made it impossible for him to escape. 

He tried to ignore the vulnerability he felt but he couldn’t shake it, especially with her staring at him.

“Why don’t you relax,” she suggested in an innocent tone, as if she actually cared. “Just allow yourself to be bathed, it's quite a nice experience. I’m sure you’ve never had the pleasure before,” her eyes seemed to be penetrating through him, he could barely hold eye contact with her. 

He wasn’t sure if it was because she made a show of looking down on him or if it was because her entire appearance screamed that she was better than anyone in the room. 

She was dressed in an impractical yet equally intimidating blood-red pants suit with pointed shoulder pads and hair twisted up like a crown on her head in intricate swooping loops that reminded him of a pretzel. Her hair made her appear taller than she already was.

Her full lips were coated in a blood red paint and it reminded him of the poisonous red mushrooms that grew in the outskirts. Dimitri oddly thought that made sense, since her voice sounded like poison. 

Each of her slender fingers held a ring, some had two on one finger and they looked expensive enough to buy a whole slot of land. Her look only made him detest her more than he already did, wishing not for the first time, that he could escape.

What was worse, was the servant bathing him. 

He was extremely thorough, making sure to wash every nook and crevice of his body, no matter how uncomfortable he became. No amount of squirming deterred the man’s actions, he boldly cleaned every inch of Dimitri's body, removing excess dirt from places he didn't feel could get that dirty. 

By the looks of the tinted water, he was wrong. 

Once the man was officially done with scrubbing him, the now murky water was drained from the tub and he was quickly sprayed down with cold water. He jumped at the sudden temperature change, wrist throbbing at being pulled against the Prohibitors. His lengthy black hair was wet through with the cold water and then lathered with a sweet-smelling creme. 

He reluctantly admitted to himself that the feel of the servant man’s strong fingers on his scalp felt especially good. It was tempting to relax under the pressure of his fingers, but upon recognizing that temptation, he stiffened more to resist it. 

When the man began work to detangle his hair, then he truly relaxed, with that urge to lie down and give in fleeing after the scalp massage was over. 

The cold water was sprayed onto him again to rinse, further relaxing him by keeping him uncomfortably alert.

After the servant was done with him, he was lifted from the tub, and dried off, his wrist once again automatically clamped together. 

The message was loud and clear to Dimitri at that point, that trying to escape from the house would be a near-impossible feat. 

The servant bathing him switched places with another as he was forced to sit again and his silky black hair was cut to the shortest length Dimitri had ever seen on himself, with the longest parts falling directly over his thick eyebrows, and tapered even lower on the sides and back. It was the haircut of nobles, people who boasted money, and those who were the property of that type of person. 

It was something else for him to despise. 

His face was given the same treatment as it was lathered in another sweet-smelling creme before a razor was applied to his face, removing the sparse facial hair that took him forever to grow. Next his dark eyebrows were plucked until there weren't any stray hairs out of place. It  seemed to get worse as the most terrible thing to happen to him since he was brought to that bathroom took place, the removal of his body hair. 

Not a limb was left untouched, nor a hidden place left hidden for long.

It was an invasive and painful experience that brought tears of laughter to Lady Hwang’s eyes. He had tears in his own eyes that had nothing to do with joy, but he refused to let them drop as he dug his filed nails into each of his hands.

The last thing they did was invade his mouth. They were obviously pleased that he had all his teeth and that they were in good condition as they cleaned and flossed them. Lastly, they applied an ointment to his bruised wrists and ankles before clipping and filing his fingernails and toenails. 

Not a body part was left untouched.

“Look at you now,” her firm voice spoke. “Now you look like a shiny new coin, someone who looks like they belong in this household.”

Lady Hwang was extremely proud of what was standing before her. She could now see her Lord husband had chosen pretty well after all. 

The boy naturally showcased a nice mixture of handsome and pretty as she let her eyes drink him in. 

He had a delicate look about him even though his face was masculine. His round almond shaped eyes were surrounded by a cluster of black lashes that made his dark colored irises look onyx in appearance and set above dangerously high cheekbones. His flawlessly dark features brought out his smooth complexion, sharp nose, and his bow shaped lips; which were slightly pouty and a tantalizing flesh red. 

He was a tall man, broad shoulders set below a long neck and above a strong chest. 

She could see that he was malnourished by the look of his ribs as they poked through his skins slightly, and yet, it would only be a matter of time before his body rivalled that of her Lord Husband’s. Yes, her niece would have fun with the toy standing before her if she knew what was good for her.

“Leave him in his room, I’ll let Amahle decide what else to do with him. I’ve had my fair share for the day,” she ended as she left the bathroom, obviously satisfied.

It turned out, the bedroom he was brought through to get to the bathroom, was the room he would be staying in. 

His eyes grazed over the room as he stood off to the side.

It was bare, besides the large black leather four post sleigh bed and plain white sheets. 

Standing on either side of the bed were tall floor lamps. The fixtures on the lamps formed columns of light at varying heights that illuminated at the intersection between each module. Next to it was a huge ceiling-to-floor french window, the room’s only impressive feature. 

No one gave him clothes to wear, so he was as bare as the room he was in. Dimitri rubbed his hands across his skin, the smoothness throwing him off. 

He still couldn’t believe everything he'd been through but he was grateful to soon have a moment of quiet. 

He watched as the servants quickly and quietly dismissed themselves after gathering all their tools and cleaning up. 

At long last, his wrists were freed from each other as the bracelets unclasped themselves, but the clicking from the door locking on the outside was enough to know that the escape that had been evading him from the beginning would not be returning anytime soon.

He glanced around the room again now that he was alone, chills running up and down his bare flesh.

He didn’t know what he should do at that very moment. Should he yell and shout, demanding to be released? Should he cry until he falls asleep? Or should he consider the window the last ditch option?  

He walked toward the window to see just how long the fall to freedom would be.

The house had the height of a commercial building. 

The room he resided in was at least six stories high, maybe more. Could he survive a jump like that?

 It seemed next to impossible without severely injuring or killing himself. Who knew though? Death might be easier. He let himself wonder about that before deserting the thought. 

He didn’t want to die.

There must be a better way to escape this room. 

Dimitri walked away from the picturesque window showcasing a view of the city in the distance and his freedom. His plight seemed like a dream but this was reality, his reality. 

He looked around the grand but empty room with its marble floors, walls, and high ceiling before giving the gold pretty prohibitors a look.  

He was a prisoner and this was his cell. 

Dimitri stood in the fading light of the room, in silence, bare and cold as shadows danced across his skin. 

Now that he was truly alone, all his emotion burst forth; he cast himself onto the cold marble floor and wept bitterly. He couldn’t understand what he’d done so wrong to be punished in this way. 

He tried to be a good and loving son who listened to his mother. He tried to be the person his uncle could count on. He worked hard in the fields, sometimes 14 hour days just to provide for himself and his family. He lived a good life as a law-abiding citizen and yet, it all seemed in vain because now he was confined inside the impregnable Hwang fortress in the depths of the Pastel City. All because he believed his Uncle would protect him whenever he needed it like he’d done in the past. 

The thought was maddening. 

He was exhausted from the spilled emotions that he bottled inside since arriving at the house but somehow he felt a little better, even if for a moment. 

Standing up, he crawled into the bed, the silk sheets soft and almost comforting against his skin.

He was too tired to cry again, too tired to think, too tired to feel anger, and at the moment he felt too tired to exist. 

So he closed his eyes in helplessness.

A/N: This is the 3rd and final chapter I will be uploading onto this site. I really hope this has interested you in continuing on with this story. I'd appreciate any comments and answer any questions below. If you would like to continue to read until completion as I update, you can click Kindle Vella link to be able to do so. The next chapter has more details about this if you haven't read it yet.

Thank you all again!